


The Operation of Jazz

by dappersir



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-27 20:05:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2704886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dappersir/pseuds/dappersir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin is a famous surgeon who's fed up with everyone knowing who he is.<br/>Connie, a saxophone player for an unnamed jazz group, is the only person who doesn't know who he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Armin and Connie Make Fools of Themselves

**Author's Note:**

> You like conmin, yes? Go check out conmins on tumblr, yes?  
> Go, go, go!  
> http://conmins.tumblr.com/  
> Don't know how to turn that into a link oops.  
> Tags might change as the story progresses.  
> Highly recommend listening to jazz whenever Connie's around because yes.

Armin fumbled around the house, almost tripping as he pulled on his socks. Of course he'd be running late. That's what he gets for staying up with his two sisters instead of getting sleep like a proper surgeon should. However, they needed a third person for playing Mario Party since it's no fun with two people.

Annie had won, as always. And Armin had come in last, as always. He was never good with video games.

“Armin! Your coffee's on the counter!” Historia shouted. “Don't forget to get your phone in case we need to call you for something!”

“Got it, got it,” Armin grumbled, slipping on his shoes and heading towards his counter. “Thanks, Historia,” he sighed happily after taking his sip of coffee.

She turned from the sink and smiled at him. “No problem!” she exclaimed.

Coffee in hand, Armin went out the door and to the car, turned the car radio to his favourite station -Groovy Jazz- and made his way to the hospital. He made sure to chug his coffee before heading in since he was scheduled for at least one operation today.

And into the hospital he went. He slipped on his jacket, clipped on his name tag onto the pocket, and went to his main office.

“Good morning, Dr. Arlelt,” his assistant greeted.

“Eren, you've known me for years. I told you you don't have to be so formal with me,” Armin chuckled while grabbing his clipboard.

Ah, Eren Jaeger, his long time assistant. He had probably been here as long as Armin himself, and despite being offered a job like Armin's, he refused, saying he just wasn't cut out for that kind of stuff.

It made Armin question why Eren was even in the medical field in the first place.

“It's a work setting. I'm supposed to be formal, especially for such a renowned surgeon.”

Armin bit his tongue and smiled. The only downside he had found for loving to help people was that his name became known and people expected him to be able to do anything. Everyone knew who he was, and sometimes, he just wished he was a hermit nobody knew.

Director Erwin stepped into the room at that point. “We've brought the patient into the O.R. Time to begin the operation briefing.”

Armin and Eren made their way into the operating room, slipped on their surgical masks and gloves, and prepped the area. The patient had just been put under for the operation.

“Today looks like a heart surgery... valvular heart disease... replace with synthetic valve...” Armin mumbled. He moved over to stand on the right side of the patient, Eren moving in next to him with all the tools needed in the operating room.

Erwin stood at the operating room door and said, “The main objective for this surgery is to-”

“Have fun?” Eren chimed in.

Erwin sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Replace the valve in her heart with a synthetic valve, Arlelt.” Then he left the room.

“You're hopeless,” Armin muttered before disinfecting the area and making the incision to get to the woman's heart.

“I'd rather be hopeless than serious like you,” Eren grumbled while Armin made the incision along the heart.

“Now really isn't the time for this, Eren,” Armin sighed, handing the scalpel back to his assistant. “Huh, she has quite the irregular heartbeat.” Armin drained the blood from the area and reached his hand out for the scalpel.

“Well her heart is wide open, so...” Eren trailed as he placed the scalpel back in Dr. Arlelt's hand.

“All right, you smart ass,” Armin grumbled before beginning to excise the valve. “Forceps...” And then he had the forceps. “Tray...” Then a tray was put in his sight, and he set the valve on the tray. “Artificial valve...” Then a tray with the artificial valve was in eyesight, and he carefully put it in place.

He thrust the forceps in Eren's general direction. “Suture.”

“Got it, got it,” Eren sighed as he put the forceps back and grabbed the materials needed to suture.

Armin meticulously began to stitch the valve in place so it'd be accepted into the heart. He squinted his eyes as he finished the suturing for the valve and stitched the heart back into place. The stitches would eventually get absorbed into the tissue, so there would definitely be no need to take them out later.

However, the one that had to be done in order to close the body would have to be taken out. So Armin got to stitching that up, put a bandage over it, and rewarded himself for another job well done. “All right, clean up time!” Eren cheered to himself as he wheeled all the medical instruments out of the room and down the hall to the room where he cleaned and sterilized all the materials.

Armin shook his head to himself before motioning discarding his gloves and surgical mask as the nurse on standby brought the patient to the recovery room. This was to monitor the effects immediately after surgery. Once everything was cleared, the patient would be brought back to their hospital room to finish recovery.

He cracked his neck as he made it back to his office before beginning to sort through paper work. He didn't know if he was slated for any other operations today, but if he was, then Director Erwin would certainly tell him.

When he heard a knock on the door, he turned and hummed in question.

The head that peaked through the door was none other than that of Hanji Zoe, one of the senior surgeons at this hospital. The only person who had been here longer than them was Erwin, and that's because he founded the place. Hanji had also been his mentor when he first started working here. Everything he had learned came from them, mostly. If not, it was from books.

“Yoohoo, Armin~” they greeted in a sing-songy tone. “Moblit and I are headin' out to the resident bar once night shift makes their way in. Wanna tag along? I know how much you like Lucky's.”

Armin smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that'd be nice. Are you inviting anyone else along?” he wondered.

Hanji tapped their finger on their chin in thought. “Well, I know Petra said she would, and you can talk it over with Eren whenever he gets back in here,” they decided, “and if Eren goes, he'll probably bring along his sister if she isn't too busy.”

Armin nodded his head in agreement. “All right, meet you at Lucky's then,” he said before they waved in farewell and closed the door.

Eren strode back in not too much later, and Armin broached the idea of the bar to him. Eren accepted, and of course asked if his sister could come along.

Once the night shift had arrived, Armin hung up his jacket and put his name tag up before grabbing his phone and closing his locker. He had missed two calls, both from Historia. She had a bad habit of calling to check up on him, even though he worked at a hopsital. Annie was notorious for the same thing.

He dialed her number and slid into his car and beginning the drive. “Armin, you didn't answer my calls,” she pointed out immediately after she answered. Armin balanced the phone on his shoulder to hold it to his ear while he was driving. He had a thing about having both hands on the wheel whenever possible.

“I know, I know,” Armin grumbled, “but you know I only check my locker whenever it's time for me to go.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “What do you need?”

“Calling to tell you I'm going to be home a bit late.”

“You're going to Lucky's again, aren't you?”

“Yes, but I was invited this time. I'm not just going to be by myself, sipping my tea and eating my peanuts in a corner. I'm actually going to be social.”

“Ah, well that's good!” she exclaimed. Armin heard some shouts from the other side of the line. “I've got to go. Since it's around dinner time, business is picking up. See you when you get home!” And then the call ended.

 

Connie ran his fingers over his head as if he were smoothing out some loose strands of hair before placing his lucky black hat on his head. Oh boy, he was ready for a night of some smooth tunes. He heard a scoff. “Connie, you have a buzz cut. You don't have to smooth out your hair, dumbass.”

“If I don't move it, then my hat won't sit right on my head, Jean,” Connie replied as he wiggled around his bow tie and grinned.

The group had all placed their instruments onto the bar's stage a little while ago so they could get ready. After all, the bar wasn't supposed to open until 7. There wasn't any risk of anything happening to their instruments while they were getting ready.

“Yes, yes! People are here!” Sasha cheered as she ran into the back room, ponytail bobbing. Ah, Sasha. The enthusiastic trumpet player. She and Connie had been friends since freshman year of college, and they were bros for life. Jean often teased them about their antics, but Sasha would always tease back with some sort of comment about Jean getting a crush on every girl who walks into the bar.

That totally wasn't true, by the way. He only had a crush on one girl who occasionally dropped by.

“Wait, it's 7 already?” Jean exclaimed, raising one of his eyebrows.

Sasha rocked back and forth in her spot. “Well, it's five minutes until, so... close enough,” she answered, holding the sides of her trademark red dress. She wore it every time they performed at Lucky's. “Lucky does let people in a little early, you know.”

“Hey, Reiner! You done primping?” Connie yelled out. “It's about time to get on stage, man!”

Steps came from the van out back, and Reiner stopped in front of them. He crossed his arms over his navy blue suit. “You primp more than me, Springer.”

“Not true.”

“Actually....” Sasha trailed.

Connie pointed a finger at her. “Don't.” 

Sasha laughed and made the motion of zipping her mouth shut, a common occurrence for whenever she had something smart to say to any of the guys. Quickly, she scurried in the direction of the stage and slipped her head out of the curtain. She quickly reported back to them.

“How's it look, Sash?” Reiner asked.

“People are comin' in,” she excitedly said. “And that blonde who keeps on looking at Connie's here, too!” She giggled as she placed her hand over her mouth.

“He does not look at me, really guys,” Connie dismissed, huffing as he put his hands on his hips. “We've been over this.”

“He's here every Friday. He alone this time, or does he actually have people with him?” Jean questioned.

“I saw... five people with him, I think.” Sasha nodded. “Yeah, five.”

“He totally looks at you, dude,” Reiner declared.

“No, he doesn't.”

“But he does!” Sasha exclaimed.

Connie shook his head. “There's no reason for him to do that,” Connie pointed out.

“If you say so,” Reiner teased, lightly punching his arm. 

Connie rubbed his arm. “Totally serious, man.”

“Oh, we totally believe you,” Jean chuckled sarcastically. “Let's just get on stage, shall we? Our audience awaits!”

Connie would've flipped him off for his attitude if Jean hadn't turned his back and began heading towards the stage. The others followed and came out from behind the curtain, taking their respective spots in front of their instruments.

Reiner cracked his knuckles as soon as he sat down in front of his piano. Jean spun his double bass around once before grabbing the bow and steadying his instrument. Sasha grabbed her trumpet and pushed the buttons on top to make sure they worked, even though she knew they did. She had checked before she set it out here. Connie grabbed his saxophone and put it on, making sure the straps that held it in place were buckled.

Reiner was in charge of keeping the tempo by tapping his foot on this pedal, which would make a drum stick hit the center of a drum lightly. That was the only way they could do it since the person who used to play their drums up and left before a big gig one night. When the tempo had been set, everyone knew what needed to be done.

Reiner's fingers glided over the piano keys, Jean brought out the deepest notes in the tune, Sasha played her trumpet with pride and dignity, and Connie began jazzing it out on his saxophone.

They had been doing jazz shows for so long that it was pretty easy for them to all get lost in the music. Sasha would close her eyes and begin swaying to the song, Jean would bob his head to himself, and Reiner and Connie would put their soul into the instruments they were playing.

As Connie played the music, he scanned the tables to see who all was there. It was always good to know that people were enjoying themselves. Most people were lost in conversation, getting their orders taken, or sipping on their drinks. Honestly, it was hard to tell if people were enjoying the music or atmosphere rather than who they were with. He just assumed they were since Lucky hadn't told them of any complaints.

His eyes fell upon one table in particular, a table of six. A classy woman with strawberry blonde hair was smiling and saying something. Whatever it was, it had to be positive. A meek looking guy who was sitting between the classy one and some other person was looking back and forth between the two. An Asian woman was calming down this tan man who was very into what he was saying.

And then there was the blonde kid, knees pulled up to his chest and sipping at a drink. He'd glance between the people at his table, grab a a peanut, crack it carefully, then pop it into his mouth. More often than not, he'd glance up towards the stage, and it seemed as though he was swaying to the music.

It was as though he was just as lost in it as the actual performers were.

Connie snapped his focus back into playing his saxophone and he felt himself start to move to the music, too.

Guess there's just something about jazz that does that to a person.

 

Armin slipped a few more peanuts into his mouth. He had toned out those at his table long ago; it was rather easy to do, especially when jazz music was playing. It put him into this place where he was alone, and he could escape from everyone knowing him in some way or another. It was rather relaxing to feel unknown. He had almost begun to forget what it felt like.

“Dr. Arlelt? Are you okay? You look a bit spacey,” Eren said.

Armin sighed in annoyance. “Seriously, we're in a casual setting. You don't have to address me as Dr. Arlelt here,” he muttered. He grabbed some of his tea and sipped on it.

“Oh, Armin's always spacey whenever he's here,” Hanji pointed out as they pushed up their glasses. “You really can't expect him to take part in conversation much if he's here. It's a terrible idea to just bring him here with only one other person. Ends up really quiet and boring.”

Mikasa chuckled quietly. “Haven't you been telling your sisters that this is you being social?”

“It's as social as I'm going to get,” Armin said. “I consider being out with friends and coworkers social.” Whatever was said to him after that, he didn't register. He had slipped back into that peaceful place where no one could reach him, where it was him and only him, where he didn't have to worry about constantly being under public eye.

At around 9:30, Petra left, saying she had to get home to take care of her pets.

About five minutes later, Moblit took his leave.

At 10, Mikasa and Eren left, Eren saying he'd meet him at work tomorrow, though he didn't respond.

Ten minutes after that, Hanji had left, too.

And thus Armin was by himself, just like he wanted. Absentmindedly, he grabbed a peanut and cracked it carefully. His eyes fell upon the saxophone player as he popped the peanut into his mouth. There was just something about the way he moved that said 'jazz flows in my veins'. With every note he played, it was like the saxophone was a part of him, something he had been born with. His fingers may have been a bit stubby, but they reached where they were supposed to in order to be a superb performer.

Armin snapped out of his trance like state when the jazz music came to its end, and the owner of the bar came up to him and snapped his fingers in front of his face. “Dr. Arlelt, I'd suggest you leave now before the rowdy night crowd comes in,” he said.

He nodded slowly before paying the tab. Everyone else had left money for what they had gotten, so Armin just put up enough to pay for the copious amounts of peanuts and tea he had consumed this evening. “Hey, Lucky?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know the name of the group that was playing tonight?” he wondered.

“Oh those four?” Lucky motioned his head towards the stage, where the entertainment was putting stuff in their appropriate places and moving their stuff into the back, presumably to be loaded onto something else for easy transportation. “I actually don't know, but they're pretty damn good. I got it where I pay them to come here every Friday.”

People began flooding in, taking tables and bringing life to the bar once again. At this time of night, party and dance music was played via an iPod hooked up to something to blare it through the speakers. People also had the option of singing karaoke with a small fee. “I should go now,” Armin said as he slipped out from the booth he was sitting in. If Lucky hadn't dragged him to the side, the people who flooded to that table would've knocked them over.

“You could always ask them.”

“Pardon?”'

“You could ask those for their group name. You can even say ol' Lucky asked you to,” he chuckled. He dangled up his key to the back room and placed it in Armin's hand. “Now go on. I've got rowdy folks to deal with.” With that, Lucky went back behind the counter.

Armin made his way between the pulled out chairs and the pushed together tables, clutching the key tightly in his hand. He truly felt sorry for those who had to clean up after this particular crowd. It had to be quite the taxing job. 

After almost getting knocked down a few times, Armin managed to unlock the door. He made sure to lock it behind him so no one would wander back here, then walked on.

“Connie, you're so oblivious!”

“Hey, don't thump me-”

“Then you shouldn't steal my hat, you punk.”

“Do you believe us now, huh? He totally-”

“Jean, you're wrong, so stand there in your wrongness and be wrong.”

“But it's true!”

“I agree with Jean boy here, Connie. I actually saw it, too, though it happened more during that last stretch.”

“When will you see it, man?”

“Ugh, you guys are hopeless- Hey! Gimme back my hat, Reiner!”

“Oh, let's play monkey in the middle with it! Three, two-”

Armin peeked his head into the room, feeling weird interrupting. He cleared his throat. “Um, excuse me?”

All four of them turned their heads to look at him at once. There was a short man with a buzz cut that was reaching up for a hat that was being held just out of his reach by a well-built blonde man. Armin recognized them as the saxophone player and the pianist. The female of the group was reaching for the hat; she was obviously the trumpet player. The double bass player was trying to wrestle the saxophone player so he wouldn't get back the hat.

Immediately, they all placed their hands behind their backs and whistled, making sure not to make eye contact with Armin. A three of the four were biting their lips, as though they were trying to hold back tremendous laughter. The saxophone player gave him a glance. “We're professional, I swear.”

Armin chuckled to himself. “I... I was sent here to ask you guys something on behalf of Lucky,” he slowly declared. When they each had eyes on his face, he asked, “What's your name?”

The three who had been holding in their laughter just belted out laughing, while the saxophone player stood blinking and stunned. “Uh, my name's Connie, but I thought Lucky already knew that?”

“Um, no,” Armin rubbed his hand down his face and shook his head to himself. “That wasn't a good way to phrase that. I meant as a whole.”

The pianist stopped laughing long enough to respond. “Well, I'm Reiner.”

“I don't think-”

“You can call me Sasha!”

“Really, that's-”

“And my name's Jean.”

“That's not what I meant!” Armin exasperatedly cried out, hand covering his eyes. Oh man, why had he agreed to do this? “I meant... like... your group name, you know?”

“Oh,” all four of them said in unison. 

“We don't have one, actually,” Connie answered, rubbing his hand on his chin. 

“The Sashanites!” Sasha cheered with a fist pump.

“No, Sasha,” Jean shot down, coming up behind her and putting his hand over her mouth.

“Oh, okay. Thank you for answering, and sorry for disturbing you,” Armin said. “I'll just be on my way now.”

Just as he was turning to head out, Connie called out, “Hey, wait.”

Still embarrassed from his screw up earlier, he walked back into the room, hands behind his back. “Yes?” he wondered. The others were giggling to themselves, which earned them annoyed looks from Connie. The three of them threw their arms up and began putting the set up into the back of a truck that was parked just outside.

“Be careful with my piano!” he heard Reiner yell as they stepped out the door.

He turned his eyes back to Armin before asking. “Who are you?”

Armin felt a surge of excitement run through him, and he couldn't help but smile brightly. “My name's Armin, Armin Arlelt!” No one had asked who he was since before he became a surgeon. He felt as though he was back in that place he went to when he was listening to jazz music.

There was no sudden realization, no snap and point towards him with the words, “Oh, you're that doctor!” or “you saved so-and-so's life!” or a “You're the one who treated me at Maria Hospital!”. Just a quiet nod. “I see, well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Armin.” Connie extended his hand towards him with a slanted grin on his face.

Armin blinked at him for a few seconds before he registered what was going on, and he accepted the handshake. He had a firm handshake, much like businessmen Armin had encountered in the past. Connie laughed to himself as he took his hand away and run his hand over his head. “What?” Armin wondered hesitantly.

“Oh, it's just that I thought you'd have a dead fish handshake,” Connie chuckled. “You seem like the type of person who doesn't know what a handshake is supposed to be like.”

Armin narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly. “Okay, well, you should probably get to helping your group pack up the stuff, so I'm off.”

Once more, Armin went to leave, but a hand grasped his shoulder before he had the chance to. “Hey, Armin?”

He turned to look at Connie, who was eyeing him suspiciously. Oh no, oh no. Armin prepared himself for the questions of him being the surgeon, he braced himself for the harsh reality that would be dropped on him every time someone would point out who he was and what he did.

It didn't come. Connie simply asked, “Don't you plan on coming here next Friday, too?”

Armin was taken aback for a second, simply stunned that someone had gone this long without even recognizing who he was. It was a nice feeling. “Well, I kind of come here every Friday evening,” he slowly responded. “Unless something comes up, I should be here.”

“Good!” Connie happily declared. “You seem like a cool guy, Armin, and I plan to get to know you better.” Connie let go of his shoulder and moved to cross his arms. “You better prepare yourself for Friday, get pumped, get stoked, 'cause you are chillin' with the Conman after the show.”

“Huh? But what about your group-”

“Hell, they'll be fine without me,” Connie snorted. “It's just packing up the stuff. I'm not bailin' the show, so they won't have a problem with it.”

“Well...okay then.” Armin nodded with a small smile. “Guess I'll see you Friday.”

“Sure thing, man!”

Armin waved before heading back towards the door and into the madness that Lucky's bar had turned into. He locked the door back and maneuvered to the bar so he could give back the key. He relayed the information he had found out (just in case the four of them decided to ask Lucky about it) and went out the door.

It was 11:45 when he got home, and the whole car ride, he felt that excitement of being unknown, actually being treated as a stranger rather than some sort of saint.


	2. In Which Connie and Armin Are Pestered Endlessly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions, questions, questions for all.
> 
> But factors of attraction aren't a question at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're here, then you obviously like Conmin, so you should go check out conmins on tumblr, yes?  
> http://conmins.tumblr.com/  
> (still don't know how to do links)

Connie slipped onto his couch with a grilled cheese sandwich before flipping on his television. Boring news, generic cartoons, documentary on alpacas... Nothing interesting was on, as usual, so Connie flipped to the movie channels and picked a random comedy. He'd probably seen it tons of times since he'd seen most comedies, but the jokes never got old to him.

After practically inhaling the grilled cheese, he cleaned up his mess by throwing his paper plate in the trash and putting away the ingredients. Connie yawned and stretched before beginning a load of laundry. When his phone rang, he had to jump over the couch to get it. Not the most graceful of things he's done since he ended up flipping over the couch.

“Yo,” he greeted into the phone.

“Hey, Conman,” Jean responded. “You sound like a wreck.”

“It's nothing, just tripped on the couch.”

“Right.”

After a few moments of silence, Connie questioned, “So... why are you calling? We're going to be seeing each other in less than an hour. Can't it wait until then?”

Jean sighed on the other side of the line, and Connie could just imagine him rubbing his temple. “Sasha said she's tried calling you, but you won't answer.”

“Really? I don't have any missed calls from her,” Connie pointed out with a smirk. When she called, he had immediately answered then hung up. He often did this with the jazz group, but Jean was not one to fool around with.

“Connie, I know that thing you do,” Jean sighed. “Just call her, will you? I don't want her endlessly calling me about this.”

“Fine, fine,” Connie groaned, hanging up and dialing Sasha's number.

“Connie! I was just about to call Jean again!” She exclaimed.

“Well, if you had, you would've gotten a message that said the line was busy,” Connie chuckled. “He just called me and begged me to call you so you'd leave him alone.”

He heard a laugh from the other side of the line. “Aw, but it's fun to bother him! But it's you I wanted to bother anyway, Conman~”

“Whaddaya have for me then? Lay it on me,” Connie decided as he pushed himself up off the floor and onto his couch.

He heard Sasha inhale a deep breath, and he just knew what was coming. It was spastic Sasha time. Inwardly, he braced his self as Sasha began her long string of words, “Connie, that blonde kid's so adorable! Did you see how pink his cheeks got? So cute! He was totally flustered you know, probably because he was talking to you since he stares at you in silence every Friday.”

Sasha inhaled, and before she got the chance to say anything, Connie cut in, “He does not stare at me, Sash. We've been over this, I've been over it with the whole group!”

“He totally does.”

“No, I beg to differ,” Connie argued. “But I can't disagree that he looked flustered, but it certainly couldn't be for your reason. You're just delusional.”

Sasha huffed. “Well, sir, can you think of any other reason he'd be flustered?”

“Maybe... the room was hot?”

“Total bullshit!” Sasha laughed. He could just imagine her squinting her eyes closed as she basically laughed uncontrollably. When she calmed down, she continued, “Buuuut, I think he's got you hooked.”

“Hooked? What is this, a support group for getting over drugs?”

“If the kid's a drug, then kind of, but I don't think he'd be a bad drug that required a support group, so... no,” Sasha trailed on the 'o' in no before continuing, “Blondie was about to leave, it could've been said and done, Conman. But then you reached out to him, and it was like a chorus of angels went off in his head or something!”

Connie shook his head to himself and flopped into a different position on the floor. “I applaud you for your imagination, but you're exaggerating. I'll keep your words into consideration, though.”

“You didn't have to continue the conversation, but you did! Not only that, you gave us the look that sends us scurrying!” she frantically continued. “Don't deny the attraction, Connie,” she teased.

He sighed with a chuckle, “Sash, I'm done with you for now. See you at the gig tonight.” Before Sasha had a chance to say anything, he hung up and set his phone on one of the couch cushions.

While they permanently performed every Friday at Lucky's, which provided the four of them with a small steady income, the other days of the week were a bit more sporadic. Sometimes Friday was their only gig, and other times they had at least two a week. This week, they fortunately had another gig scheduled for Wednesday, which was today.

Connie rolled himself up off the floor and got his bag together. He brought one formal outfit to wear during the performance, and pajamas to slip on in the van so he could come right back to his simple apartment and conk out. The hat didn't go in the bag, oh no. He put it on his head, totally not caring that it didn't match his letterman jacket and ripped blue jeans. He grabbed his bag and his saxophone case and placed them beside the door so he could just grab and go whenever Reiner got here. While he waited, though, he was going to watch as much of that comedy as he could.

He plopped back down on the couch and stared at the television, but he just couldn't focus on the movie. He'd be more likely to move rocks with his mind than focus on the movie at this point.

Sasha might present some outlandish ideas, but she always has sensible arguments. That was one of her strong points in college and why she was on the debate team. Connie couldn't actually find a way to deny anything Sasha had said. Hell, he couldn't deny it if it was him telling it to himself.

Armin wasn't unattractive, and there had been a certain happiness in his eyes when Connie asked who he was that just made his chest swell. He couldn't think of any other time where he had seen someone smile that brightly. It was honestly like he was looking at an enthusiastic child, and he had ultimately decided that he wanted to see it more.

Let's not even brush over the fact that Connie still had no fucking idea what to do on Friday. Good on him for inviting someone out and not knowing or thinking about what to do until the last minute. However, he had been vague when inviting Armin out, so he pretty much had liberty to do anything, and something told him Armin really wouldn't care what it was.

That was when the sharp and blaring honk pierced through his ears and made him cringe. Oh yes, Reiner and his loud ass van was here. Connie picked up his two things and marched on out the door and to the van.

 

After the operations that had been scheduled for that day had been completed, Armin took it upon himself to check up on some of his previous patients, whether they be routine check ups for after surgery, or for after surgery recovery. He liked to make sure his patients were well taken care of.

The woman who had had the heart surgery last week recovered splendidly and was set to check out within the next week.

A few of the other patients he had operated on were scheduled to leave the next day or even within a few hours. Some surgeries weren't as severe as others, so there was no need to monitor them.

Once he was done with that, he returned to his station and began filing any papers that were out appropriately. Some of the other surgeons had a bad habit of not cleaning up after themselves, so it was up to Armin to keep everything nice and tidy, lest Erwin get royally pissed off again.

He found himself getting lost in thought while he methodically sorted through papers and swayed to himself, playing a slight jazz tune in his head.

There was something that had been sitting with him this whole week, something weird. It wasn't a bad sort of weird, it was just... peculiar? He couldn't think of the right word to describe it. Elated sense of weird? Strangely excited?

The thought that there was actually at least one person out there who had no idea who he was made him stupidly happy, and personally, Armin wanted to keep it that way. Didn't matter whether he was hanging out with Connie after the show tonight or not. He was going to enjoy his anonymity and not say a damn thing about his job.

Added plus? Connie had this air of confidence about him, and Armin actually found confidence quite attractive. After all, why be attracted to someone who isn't even attracted to themselves?

“I didn't think you zoned out like this at work, too. Good thing you don't get lost in thought when you're operating, Doctor,” Eren commented as he leaned on the filing cabinet next to the one Armin was currently using.

Armin narrowed his eyes at him. “I thought you were on break with the other assistants, Eren,” he said.

Eren plopped down on the stool by the desk closest to Armin. “Well, I'm supposed to be, but I feel in the zone today. If I take a break now, I'll be in a slump until night shift comes in,” he explained.

He snorted. “Being in here is like taking a solitary break, Eren. We don't have any operations scheduled right now.”

“But there's still a chance of an emergency surgery!”

“You shouldn't get excited about those,” Armin sighed as he shook his head. “Emergencies are no fun for anyone. It inconveniences so many people.”

“Wow, rude,” Eren remarked. “Being in some sort accident is an inconvenience now? I question how you became the best and most well-known surgeon with that kind of view point.”

If Erwin hadn't walked in at that moment, Armin would've flipped Eren off, but since he had to carry himself in a professional manner around his boss, he straightened up. “What do you need, sir?”

If Erwin had heard anything, he pretended it wasn't said. “Are you going to be staying after your hours are done tonight, Arlelt? We could really use some back up here tonight.”

“Well,” Armin glanced off to the side and clasped his hands behind his back. “I actually had plans tonight, Director Erwin,” he declared before looking his boss in the eye once more. From the corner of his eye, he saw Eren's inquisitive and doubtful look.

“Really? You didn't strike me as the type of person who made plans,” Erwin chuckled. “You've always made sure to be available at all hours just in case the hospital needed you.”

Eren scoffed. “He doesn't make plans. Every Friday he just sits by himself in the corner of Lucky's bar.”

“A bar? You know as a surgeon, you aren't allowed to drink alcohol,” Erwin pointed out.

“I know, sir,” Armin sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. “I don't drink alcohol when I'm there. I drink tea and eat peanuts. That's it. But I actually do have plans!”

Erwin nodded his head and went to leave. “Well, have fun with your plans, Arlelt. Whether they're actual plans or sitting in a bar.” And then he was gone.

“I'm not letting you go to that bar by yourself. Mikasa and I are coming along,” Eren declared.

“No, no. That's not necessary,” Armin declined. “I've managed well in that environment when I'm by myself, and I seriously do have plans.”

Eren snorted. “Be unhealthy and zone out?”

Armin ran a hand through his hair and continued puttering around the office. “You're hopeless.”

“Come on, I just think you could spend your time better, Doctor. You know, do some studies, maybe get to sleep on time instead of spending a good majority of your Friday nights in a bar, actually hang out with friends,”

“I can make my own decisions, Eren,” Armin sighed. “After all, you can only influence my thoughts with your opinions when I'm in the workplace. If it doesn't have to deal with work, I don't have to listen to you advise me on anything. And just so you know, I am hanging out with a friend tonight.”

 

Armin leaned his head back against his seat and let out a heavy breath. It had been a long rest of the day. Eren insisted at every moment he could that he do something other than go to the bar. He even said he'd pay for wherever it was they went. It didn't matter that Armin had told him he was actually going to be hanging out with somebody. Eren didn't believe him.

Armin obviously hadn't taken the offer to go elsewhere.

He hopped out of his car and made sure it was locked. As he was coming up to the door, he heard a voice call out to him. “Hey, Armin.”

He turned to see Mikasa coming towards him, and he felt his shoulders tense. Was it really so wrong to want to be alone where people couldn't really tell who you were because they were drunk or not paying attention? “Hello, Mikasa,” he greeted formally.

She flipped some of her hair from her face and crossed her arms. “Eren told me to meet you here,” she stated. Armin groaned and planted his face into his hands. “I can leave if you want me to; it's clear you don't want to be bothered.”

Armin waved his hand at her. “It's fine, I guess. You're already here, and I don't want you to go wasting gas,” he said. “But don't expect me to be much company.”

“That's fine.”

Armin opened the door and walked in, eyes immediately moving to the stage to see Reiner, Sasha, Jean, and Connie getting everything set up. They were supposed to begin playing in a few minutes, and if they were just setting their instruments out there, they must have been running a bit behind. The moment Connie's eyes glanced over his way, he averted his eyes and took a seat in front of his regular table, Mikasa settling herself down in front of him.

 

Sasha came around the corner of the backroom and laughed in a manner that would've been like a hyena had Reiner not covered her mouth. Once she had calmed down, she teased, “Jean, that girl you like is here!”

Jean's head immediately snapped towards Sasha. “Really?”

“Uh huh,” she answered with a nod, “not only that, she's here with Conman's Blondie!”

Connie groaned, muttering something about how Armin wasn't his. “Wait, wait. Did you just say Armin?” Reiner questioned.

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

“Because there's a surgeon by the name of Armin, and apparently he's very esteemed and respected in the medical community. It's possible that Blondie out there's that surgeon,” Reiner declared. Jean and Sasha nodded in agreement while Connie narrowed his eyes.

He shook his head. “Nah. Not possible,” he decided, “Armin doesn't have very high self-esteem from what I can tell, and his people skills are terrible. Those definitely aren't traits a doctor would have.”

The other three shrugged in what Connie guessed was them agreeing with him. He glanced at the clock on the wall and snapped to the others. “Time to get to performin'! Let's go!” he cheered, motioning for them to head to the stage.

As he was gearing up, he glanced over to the table Armin and that other girl was sitting at to catch him quickly snap his eyes back to the girl in front of him. 'Hm,” Connie thought, 'maybe he does stare at me.'

 

Armin wasn't as distanced as he usually was when at Lucky's on Fridays. Mikasa was one of his more level-headed friends, so it wasn't too hard to hold conversation with her. It was an added plus that she was comfortable with silence.

She had stayed with him the whole four hours that Connie's jazz group performed, probably because Eren had told her that he was meeting up with a friend, and he wanted to see whether or not he was lying.

Armin quietly ate himself another peanut as Mikasa sighed. “It's good to just relax every so often,” she said quietly. “You're a calming person to be near.”

He flashed her a quick smile before finishing up the last of his fifth cup of tea. He was just about done with his third bowl of peanuts, and he was amazed that his body didn't show about his unhealthy gorging habits.

Both he and Mikasa jumped when they heard a light slap on their table, and both of them brought their attention to the source: Connie. “The Conman is here,” he announced, tipping his hat.

“Hi, Connie,” Armin replied. He nodded his head towards his friend. “Mikasa, this is Connie, and Connie, this is Mikasa,” he introduced quickly.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Mikasa said with a nod.

Connie placed his hands on his hips. “Ah, so that's your name then.” He motioned his head back towards the stage, where Reiner, Sasha, and Jean were still getting their instruments off the stage. “One of my group members has a large crush on you,” he whispered. “He tends to stare at you whenever you're here, like last Friday. He stares at you kind of like how the other three are convinced Armin here stares at me.”

Armin quickly chewed up another peanut as he felt his cheeks grow hot. He rubbed his hand down his face, and Mikasa quirked an eyebrow at him. “Since your friend is here, I'll take my leave and tell Eren you weren't lying,” she decided as she slipped out of the booth and waved back at him.

“You ready?” Connie asked as he leaned his head to the side.

Armin nodded and set the payment for his and Mikasa's meals of four hours on the table before sliding out of the booth. He lightly smiled. “Then, uh, shall we be off?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I write chapters out of order, and I already have the last chapter written. Oops.


	3. In Which Connie Introduces Armin to Comedy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkward late night movie?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey. Do you like Conmin? If so, you should totally check out conmins on tumblr.  
> http://conmins.tumblr.com/  
> Conmin ship really needs more sailors.

The two of them stepped outside into the spring air. “So, where are we going?” Armin asked, leaning his head at Connie.

Connie took in a deep breath and put his hands on his hips. “Here's the thing,” he began, “I don't have a car. Can we use yours?”

Armin shook his head in a disapproving manner, but motioned for him to follow him to his car nonetheless. “You should consider getting a car,” he advised, unlocking the car and hopping in.

“I know,” he sighed. “I'd get one if I had a license.”

Armin flashed Connie an unimpressed stare. “You should probably work on that, as well. Where are we headed?” He pulled out his phone and brought up a GPS application.

“A movie theatre,” Connie replied. He leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms behind his head.

Armin scrunched his eyebrows in thought. “What movie theatre stays open this late? We wouldn't have time to see a movie. They're in the middle of the last showing right now.”

“Ah, but this is a different kind of theatre!”

“Really?”

Connie nodded. “It's called 'Conman's 24 Hour Movie Theatre. Open all day, shows anything and everything.”

“Right, I see,” Armin chuckled. “Then could you give me the address for Conman's 24 Hour Movie Theatre?”

Connie rattled off the address to his house, quite taken aback at the seemingly observant blonde hadn't seen through that.

Or had he? Maybe he had more of a sense of humour than Connie thought.

“So, what movie is Conman's 24 Hour Movie Theatre showing tonight?” Armin asked, sparing a glance to the male in the passenger sheet.

“A comedy, of course!” he cheerily responded.

Armin hummed lowly. “I've never actually seen a comedy before,” he admitted.

“Woah, hold the phone! You've never seen a comedy?” Connie exclaimed, head snapping to the side to look at the blonde in pure shock. Armin shook his head sheepishly. “Man, you're missing out! They're like, the most lax of the movie genres!”

Armin shrugged. “I haven't seen many movies, actually. Only a select few.” That made Connie even more surprised.

He had to park on the side of the road since Connie didn't have a garage. Armin guessed that that was one of the reasons he hadn't gotten his license yet. Once he made extra sure his car was locked, he followed Connie to the house.

Connie through his arms out in front of him. “Welcome to Conman's 24 Hour Movie Theatre!” he cheered. “Please take a seat in front of the viewing screen and make yourself comfortable. Refreshments will be brought in shortly.” With that, Connie made his way into the kitchen while Armin found the couch and plopped right down on it.

A few minutes later, a bag of popcorn was thrown his way, and he definitely wouldn't have caught it if Connie hadn't warned him. Connie went over to the closet, searched through some discs until he found what he was looking for, then slipped on the couch beside Armin after popping the movie into the DVD player.

 

After the movie was over, it was almost two in the morning. Armin knew and kept on telling himself that he had to leave, but then he thought that there was no point since he had to get up in four hours to go to work anyway. That probably wasn't the best train of thought, especially for one in such a critical position as him, but at this point, he really didn't care.

He fumbled around for some of the last pieces of popcorn as Connie grabbed the disc and put it back where it belonged. “So, how do you like comedies?” he inquired.

“They're certainly... interesting,” Armin commended, shifting his position on the couch. “Connie, how long have you been playing the saxophone?”

“Eh?” Connie moved his fingers as he did some internal math. As he sat back down on the couch, he answered, “Since the beginning of middle school.”

“You've had that saxophone that long?” Armin incredulously questioned.

“Yeah, all the way since the beginning of 6th grade.” He kicked his feet up onto the coffee table in front of the couch and rolled his head to look at Armin. “Did you ever do anything during school?”

“Not really,” Armin exhaled, “I mainly just spoke with my sisters. Never really got out much.”

“You strike me as that type of person, but there had to be something you enjoyed doing.”

Armin slightly smiled before turning to look at him. “My dad would meet up every so often with some of his old friends, and a few of them wrote their own instrumentals. Whenever he knew one of them would be presenting a new piece they had written, he'd let me tag along! I just loved listening to them perform.”

“Is that why you're always at Lucky's on Fridays?” Connie pried. “Because of performances?”

“Eh, partially, yeah. Jazz is my favourite type of music, so that's an added plus, too.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Partially? What's the other part?”

“Nothing important,” Armin quickly spat out. He hoped to everything that existed that Connie hadn't seen the flush that he felt appear on his cheeks.

Too bad, so sad. Connie noticed it. “Not buying it.”

Armin groaned in slight annoyance and rubbed his hands down his face. “Do you really want to know?” he asked exasperatedly.

“Uh, yeah.”

Armin sighed and began, “At first, it was because of my interest in jazz. It offered me a relaxing environment to be in, but then I found myself growing attracted to... a certain saxophone player.”

To be honest, Armin was quite surprised he had outright said it, but there it was. The cat was out of the bag, now. He walked looked to the side and scratched at his neck.

An unsettling silence passed the two of them before Connie spoke. “Honestly, you're pretty damn attractive yourself.”

“Huh?” Armin spun his head to look at Connie with a bemused look.

Connie saw that light in his eyes again, the light that made his heart swell, and he decided to take a tremendous leap. “So... would you like to go on a date sometime?”

The light in Armin's eyes grew just a bit brighter, and with a smile, agreed to a date.

He scrawled his phone number onto a sheet of paper messily so they could keep in touch. Armin told him he couldn't take calls until after seven in the evenings except for on Mondays and Wednesdays (which Connie questioned mentally), then they parted ways.

 

“Told you,” Sasha teased Connie that next Friday as the group was getting ready for their weekly gig at Lucky's. “Told you, told you, told youuuuuuuu!” She had been singing that since Connie had told them how last Friday went.

Not one of them was surprised.

Reiner adjusted his bow tie so it wasn't crooked. “So, when are you taking Blondie out on that date” he interrogated with a smirk.

Connie adjusted his beloved Trilby hat on his head as he replied, “Either next Monday or Wednesday. He said he'd get back to me on which day would be best.”

Jean strode in where the other three were and crossed his arms. “People are starting to come in. We should probably start setting up on stage.”

“Aye aye, sir!” the three cheered in unison.

As they were about to head to the stage, Connie patted Jean's back and slyly whispered, “I told that girl you like her.”

“Hah?” Jean exclaimed.

Before Jean could get out anything else, Connie relayed, “Her name's Mikasa.”

Then out to the stage they went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: when I write during school, my chapters turn out shorter. Oops.

**Author's Note:**

> Each chapter is totally starting with "In Which..." by the way.
> 
> The world needs more ConMin. I'm here to supply it.


End file.
